JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. (Nov. 1, 2013) -- Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. John Campbell and Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond Chandler III visited Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Oct. 30, to discuss the progress of the Army's Ready and Resilient Campaign.
After touching down at Gray Army Airfield, the vice chief and the Army's senior enlisted leader attended a Ready and Resilient Campaign, known as R2C, implementation brief at I Corps headquarters.
"What we're trying to do is get out and see how we're implementing the Ready and Resilient Campaign," said Campbell. "For us, it's all about the readiness of our Soldiers, of our family members and of our great civilians."
The R2C is an Army-wide initiative that integrates multiple efforts and programs to improve the readiness and resilience of Soldiers, families, and civilians.
Senior leaders from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, or JBLM, discussed the progress of R2C programs, such as 201st Battlefield Surveillance Brigade's Reception and Resiliency Week, Master Resiliency Training, Soldier for Life, and unit sponsorship for incoming Soldiers.
Campbell and Chandler commented on the fact that the success of these programs relies heavily on squad leaders and team leaders.
"We're putting a whole bunch on noncommissioned officers," said Campbell. "We've done that in combat. We've given them responsibility, but we've also given them the authority to make some of those life or death calls. Too many times we come back in this environment and take that away from them. Don't do that; they will get us through this."
Campbell stressed the importance of allowing leaders to lead as opposed to micromanaging the way programs are implemented.
"What we really want to do is give commanders as much flexibility as we can," said Campbell. "If something works at JBLM that doesn't work at Fort Bragg, we're not going to mandate that."
One of the Army's top priorities R2C focuses on is Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention program, or SHARP, which the SMA addressed during lunch with Soldiers at Cannons and Castles dining facility.
They discussed mixed-gender units and some of the myths regarding sexual assaults within the ranks of the Army.
"There are more sexual assaults occurring with male on male," said Chandler, who noted the Army is about 15 percent female and 85 percent male. "That's just a fact. If you think that it's not happening in your unit because you're in an all-male unit, you're wrong."
Chandler discussed the differences between sexual harassment and sexual assault and challenged the Soldiers to lead the prevention effort by following the warrior ethos.
"It's our duty to look out for one another," said Chandler. "You have a duty just like I do: to prevent it. We're not going to leave anyone behind."
After having a candid R2C discussion with Soldiers during lunch, Campbell visited the SHARP Resource Center to learn about JBLM's new, unique place for victims.
"The Resource Center is a one-stop facility where services for victims are consolidated in one place to the maximum extent possible," said Lt. Col. Rob Stelle, Sexual Assault Response Team officer in charge. "We know from years and years of talking to victims of sexual assault that maybe the single biggest complaint victims have in the military is the hassle they have to go through."
Stelle explained the SHARP Resource Center is a holistic approach that reduces victims' stress of retelling their story over and over again to different agencies. Now, all those agencies, such as Criminal Investigation Command, Judge Advocate General, and victim advocates are under one roof.
"We can't afford to be redundant and even with fiscal constraints we will still provide our Soldiers and families with the best care and resources," said Campbell during the brief. "Like suicides, with sexual assaults, if you have one, it's too many."
Stelle said after working at numerous posts, the SHARP Resource Center is the best organizational structure he's seen when it comes to delivering services to victims and managing their cases most effectively.
"In the end, we're all trying to get the same thing," said Campbell. "That's provide this kind of toolset, this capability, to help our Soldiers, family members and civilians get through tough times."
For more information about the Army's Ready and Resilient Campaign visit www.army.mil/readyandresilient.
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